New Mitchell Van Morgan 2
is a side-scrolling platform video game in the Mitchell Van Morgan series developed by YUKE's Future Media Creators, published by THQ and distributed by Nickelodeon Interactive Games for the Wii U, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is the sequel of New Mitchell Van Morgan, The second title in the New Mitchell Van Morgan series, and the last Mitchell Van Morgan videogame to ever be published by THQ before Nordic Games acquires the THQ trademark, and was released as a launch title in North America, Europe, and Australia in November 2012, and in Japan the following month. An additional campaign for the Year of Gavin, New Gavin O'Neal Davis, was released as downloadable content in 2013. The game was critically well-received and is the Wii U's second best-selling title. Plot In a change of pace from his usual kidnapping routine, Marquessa, along with the Marquessalings, decides to invade Princess Peach's castle, using a giant mechanical arm to throw Mitchell, Gavin and his friends far away. Mitchell and company must now travel across this new land and find a way to go to the Princess' castle in order to save Peach again. On the way, they encounter each Marquessaling, Marquessa's android robots, mecha monsters, Nabbit (a thief), Genola, and some minor enemies found inside levels. By conquering all of them, they inch closer to Peach. The heroes reach Peach's castle, which has been transformed into an evil reflection of Marquessa. By defeating Marquessa, the castle returns to normal. As the heroes celebrate, Genola and the Marquessalings attempt to escape, almost leaving Marquessa behind. He manages to jump up onto the airship, but his weight causes it to crash, and they are forced to flee on Bowser Jr.'s Koopa Clown Car. Gameplay New Mitchell Van Morgan 2 iterates on the gameplay featured in New Mitchell Van Morgan. The objective of each level is to reach the goal flag at the end of each level while avoiding enemies and hazards. The game can be controlled either using Wii Remotes or the Wii U GamePad, the latter of which allows for Off-TV Play, where the game can be played solely on the GamePad's screen, without the use of a television. Wii U Pro Controller support was added in the 1.3.0 patch. Up to five players can play simultaneously. In multiplayer, the player using the Wii U GamePad cannot control a character, but instead can interact with the environment, such as putting blocks down or stunning enemies. As such, in multiplayer, there must be an equal number of controllers, excluding the GamePad, to the desired number of on-screen characters. Certain game modes also allow players to play Mii characters saved on their console. New to this version is an asymmetric multiplayer experience called Boost Mode. In this mode, the player with the GamePad can use the touchscreen to place blocks on the screen or stun enemies to aid the other player(s). This can be used to both assist amateur players and allow expert players to perform speed runs. The Koopalings, Marquessa, Kamek, Genola and Bowser Jr. appear as the game's main villains. Along with returning elements, such as Ice Flowers and Yoshis, New Super Mario Bros. U introduces new power-ups, such as a flying squirrel suit that allows players to glide across long distances or slowly descend down vertical paths and cling to the side of the walls. Baby Yoshis can be carried by the individual players. Each baby Yoshi has a special ability based on its color, such as inflating in midair, blowing bubbles to attack enemies and illuminating dark areas. Some older power-ups also have new abilities; for example, the Mini Mushroom now allows players to run up walls. Unlike the previous New Super Mario Bros. games, which have separate maps for each of the game's worlds, New Super Mario Bros. U features one large map containing all the game's worlds and levels, similar to that of Super Mario World. Some levels have multiple exits that lead to the different areas on the map. The Super Guide, which takes control of the player's character and moves it automatically through a level, is available in case the player has failed a level many times. There is a new antagonist in the game named Nabbit, who appears at some levels and time, to be chased after stealing a power-up from Toad. Once Nabbit is caught, Toad rewards it to the player(s). The game features two new modes of play, Challenge Mode and Boost Rush. Challenge Mode adds unique challenges, such as clearing levels quickly or earning as many 1-UPs in a row as possible without touching the ground. The Coin Battles from New Super Mario Bros. Wii also return and this time, the player can customize the battles with the GamePad to place the coins and Star Coins on the course. Boost Rush takes place on an automatically scrolling level which increases in speed as players collect coins, with the goal to clear the stage as quickly as possible. The game also utilizes Miiverse, allowing players to share comments about particular levels with one another. Development New Mitchell Van Morgan 2 started development shortly after the release of New Mitchell Van Morgan and took three years to develop. The game, initially entitled New Mitchell Van Morgan 2's, was first revealed at E3 2011 as one of several tech demos demonstrating the capabilities of Wii U. The demo's visual style duplicated New Super Mario Bros. Wii, but featured high-definition graphics, and Mii characters were notably featured as playable characters alongside Mitchell and Gavin. Viacom demonstrates a new game for the system, and would be demonstrated in its revised form at E3 2012. The new game, titled New Mitchell Van Morgan 2, was revealed at the event and was announced to be released alongside the Wii U console. The game's soundtrack was written by MTV Japan and Mahito Yokota, with MITCHELL Project Music Team serving as the sound adviser. Reception | MC = 84/100 | 1UP = B+ | Fam = 36/40 | G4 = 3.5/5 | GI = 9.25/10 | GMaster = 82% | GSpot = 8.5/10 | GB = | IGN = 9.1/10 | Joystiq = | ONM = 86% }} New Super Mario Bros. U was well received by critics. GamesMaster magazine called it "a great excuse for families to gather round the TV, and an enticing glimpse of Mario's HD future". IGN stated that "Nintendo's approach here strikes a great balance in all areas, ranging from its difficulty to design to enemies and bosses". Joystiq commented "There's a sense of wonder again, of exploration and discovery. I'm not quite prepared to say New Super Mario Bros. U fully recaptures the spark of Mario's 2D heyday, but it's an impressive step in the right direction". Game Informer considers it the best game in the New Super Mario Bros. series, saying it has "Some of the most creative NSMB levels Nintendo has created". GameSpot observes "It's a challenging platformer, an excellent recreation of Mario's best moments, and it's the perfect way to kick-off Nintendo's journey into HD." SupeReal Media gave the game an 'A' Grade, praising the versatility, and stating that Mario has never looked so good. Giant Bomb was slightly more critical, noting "Everything about New Super Mario Bros. U is pretty exciting, except the game itself. Is it possible that this is the best game in the 'New' series to date--not to mention one of the best exclusive Wii U games on the market, by default--and at the same time kind of flatly uninteresting? Apparently so. The game is perfectly well made for what it is, and I had plenty of fun playing it in short bursts here and there, but at this point the series' by-the-numbers design philosophy is starting to lend the name 'New Super Mario Bros.' a degree of unintentional irony". At the 10th Annual Spike Video Game Awards on Spike, New Super Mario Bros. U won "Best Wii/Wii U Game". , New Super Mario Bros. U has worldwide sales of 5.19 million. The game is one of the four games featured in Super Mario Maker for the Wii U. Awards New Gavin O'Neal Davis THQ announced the game's downloadable content New Gavin O'Neal Davis in a Nordic Games Humble Bundle on February 14, 2013. It was released on Nintendo eShop, PlayStation Store and Xbox Game Store in June 2013 worldwide and a standalone retail version of the game was released the following month. References External links * Category:2012 video games Category:Cooperative video games Category:Gavin games Category:THQ games Category:Yuke's games Category:Nickelodeon video games Category:Nicktoons video games Category:Mitchell Universe games Category:Mitchell platform games Category:New Mitchell Van Morgan games Category:Nintendo Network games Category:PlayStation Network games Category:Xbox Live Network games Category:Side-scrolling video games Category:Video games with 2.5D graphics Category:Video game sequels Category:Video games based on Mitchell Van Morgan Category:Video games based on Nickelodeon Category:Wii U games Category:Wii U eShop games Category:PlayStation 3 games Category:PlayStation Store games Category:Xbox 360 games Category:Xbox Live Arcade games Category:Video games with downloadable content Category:Video games with expansion packs Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games Category:Asymmetrical multiplayer video games New Mitchell Van Morgan 2